Illinois U.S. Senate appointee Roland Burris is surrounded by supporters and the media as he arrives on Capitol Hill
The U.S. Senate nearly brought Roland Burris, 71, to his knees several times Tuesday, literally. The diminutive, would-be junior Senator from Illinois looked practically petrified as he fought his way through hordes of journalists to present his credentials on Capitol Hill, only to be turned away by leaders of his own party.
Burris, a former state comptroller and attorney general, has done nothing wrong — his only crime was to be appointed by a governor, Illinois' Rod Blagojevich, who's under investigation for trying to sell the same seat, made vacant by the election of Barack Obama. With Blagojevich facing the prospect of federal charges and impeachment, the pick has caused a maelstrom within the Democratic Party. Officials from Illinois secretary of state Jesse White, whose refusal to certify Burris' selection was used as an excuse to invalidate the appointment, to Senate majority leader Harry Reid, who ordered Burris to be turned away from the building, have sworn to fight the selection. Still, standing in the rain outside the Capitol, Burris, who is scheduled to meet with Reid on Wednesday, vowed to battle on. "I will now be consulting my attorneys on how to move forward," he said. His attorneys then said they are considering filing suit in District Court to have Burris seated. (See pictures from the historic Election Day.)
At a time when Senate Democrats should be celebrating President-elect Obama's impending Inauguration and their biggest Senate majority in three decades, the scene had the makings of a public relations disaster. African-American political leaders are already incensed over the rejection of Burris, the first African-American to be elected statewide in Illinois. With Obama's departure, the Senate will be devoid of black representation — a fact that Burris' presence would change, which Blagojevich was surely mindful of when he made the surprising move to make an appointment. In recent days, African-American leaders in both Chicago and Congress have argued for Burris' admission, with Representative Bobby Rush calling the Senate the "last bastion of plantation politics." After initially dismissing the appointment out of hand, Dems have been put on the defensive, and they are now quick to say that if Burris were to be appointed by Lieut. Governor Pat Quinn, they would accept Burris with open arms. "This is a lose-lose situation for Reid and the Democrats," says Mark J. Rozell, a political science professor at George Mason University in Virginia. "They can either look like they are accepting the choice of a corrupt governor who tried to sell the seat or they can look like bullies denying the seat to a guy who has done nothing wrong."